Ayla Lauring and The Fallen Hero
by dreammloud
Summary: A new generation enters Hogwarts as rumors fly about Harry Potter once again. Most of the wizarding world believes that Potter is, in fact, a murderer. Ayla Lauring is an eleven year old girl determined to show that her hero is not guilty.
1. Prologue: The Winking Elf Pub

Hello world ^^

This is my first fan-fic ever, please don't feel you have to be nice, I'm all for constructive criticism.

* * *

The small wizarding community of Ela Vale sat atop a hill overlooking three muggle villages. The town was quaint, a weeping willow was centered in the town square, surrounded by shops containing wizard supplies, a candy store, and in the far back corner was a dingy little pub known as The Winking Elf Pub. Barely any light reached the pub on a regular day and it hadn't had many visitors since the fall of the Dark Lord, Voldemort. Ela Vale was one of those towns where nothing ever happened, simple town, simple people. But on this particular day that was all about to change.

It was one of those days where nobody dared leave their homes, dark and dreary, rain splattering hard against the pavement and wind that made it hard to walk, the kind of day that would depress the happiest man on Earth. At the Winking Elf Pub, two men sat at a small table conversing in hushed tones as an eager barmaid scuttled about, cleaning up the messes of the night before. She had not suspected anything of the two men, regulars at the Pub. She simply nodded curtly to them and brought them their usual drinks.

It was quite obvious that the men didn't want their conversation to be heard.

'Findley" Said the man on the right, "you're not hearing what I'm saying. There have been more and more disappearances and deaths of ministry wizards as the days go on. We are no longer safe. Perhaps we should have at least tried to erase the boy's memory…"

"Don't be ridiculous Apollo!" The man known as Findley said a little too loudly. He glanced around for the barmaid before he lowered his voice again, "He was merely a child, no harm can come of hi-"

"Hush! Are you forgetting about Harry Potter?" The man known as Apollo interrupted, "He was only a child when he defeated He Who Shall Not Be Named, he was only seventeen when he finished him off for good."

"Yes, but where is he now?" Findley asked, then he leaned in towards Apollo, "The minister reckons that he's the cause of all these deaths, it's all over the Prophet… There are also rumours going around that he's planning a rebellion against the new Minister for Magi-"

"Watch your mouth Findley! You know as well as I that even speaking of rumours of a rebellion is cause to be sent to Azkaban these days." Apollo glanced nervously towards the door, then his eyes flitted to the barmaid who was wiping down a tabletop on the other side of the bar. Finally his eyes landed on his watch, "It's about time that I head home… Keep your mouth shut about all this rebellion nonsense." Apollo stood and shook Findley's hand as if they had been having a normal conversation as on any other day. The barmaid gave him a small smile as he exited the pub and he started his short journey home.

Usually, Apollo would have simply apparated straight home in times like these, what with all the deaths and disappearances, but he figured that he would be fine tonight as he lived just around the corner and their had been no known deaths in this area so far.

He turned up his collar and leaned against the wind as he walked. He had never noticed just how far his house was from the pub before today. The rain made him deaf to any noises around him, maybe the pleading of a man as he tried to bargain for his life, and the wind hurt his eyes making it impossible to see anything such as the flash of green light reflecting off the puddles on the road. But even rain and wind can't mask the desperate scream of a barmaid.

_Oh Findley, what have you done to upset the poor girl? _He thought to himself, turning once more to face the pub just in time to see the second green flash. He immediately knew exactly what had become of the barmaid. But, for as long as he could remember, Findley was a very kind person, he wouldn't kill an innocent woman. Was he wrong about his companion all these years? Apollo slowly walked back towards The Winking Elf Pub but stopped once he saw the Pub's door opening.

"Findley? Is that you?" He called out to the hooded figure stepping out of the Pub's door. The man started walking towards him, "Findley, I must ask what it is you think that you are doing!" Deep down, Apollo knew all along that the man walking towards him was not his friend, Findley. Apollo squinted his eyes to find the man raising his wand , pointing it directly at him.

"Findley?" His hopes were dwindling fast and by the time the mysterious man's mouth formed the words that would end his life he had realized just who the man was…

Harry Potter.

* * *

Well, what do you think so far? Reviews are highly appreciated.

Let me give you some information on this story:

This is merely the Prologue, I tried to write this story similar to how JK Rowling would write it, with the prologue revealing important information but not yet introducing the main character (does that make any sense to anyone but myself?).

The time is a few years after Harry Potter's youngest child graduated from Hogwarts, so Harry, Ron, and Hermione would be around 47. (At least that's what my math tells me... They were 17 at the end of the Deathly Hollows, then there's 19 years later when Lily was 9. She had to wait 2 years to go to Hogwarts, then 7 years of study and two years later makes it 47.)

The rest of the background information will be revealed in later chapters.

Thanks for reading! ^^


	2. Chapter 1: Waiting for an Owl

Hey there ^^

I have nothing much to say to you guys on this one. Enjoy this chapter =)

disclaimer: The only thing I own of this story is the plot, Ayla Lauring, and other OCs. All the fun stuff like Hogwarts belongs to JK Rowling.

* * *

Ayla Lauring sat with her face pressed against the window of the Laurnig's quaint house in the country, watching for an owl. The most peculiar part of this was that it was broad daylight. Most everyone knows that owls do not come out during the day, especially when there is not a forest anywhere nearby. Yet Ayla watched, blinking only when necessary. She had been there since early that morning, eagerly awaiting a letter. You see, Ayla Grace Lauring was a witch.

"Ayla, darling, would you please come away from that window and come eat something?" Her mother, Faith, called from the kitchen, "The letter will come soon enough."

"But mom, I have to see it come!" Ayla whined still looking out the window, "Otherwise it could be a fake."

"Oh, Ayla, would we really lie to you all these years?" Her mother tsked, "Silly girl, always dreaming up crazy things."

"It's called an imagination sweetie, she hasn't lost hers yet, remember?" Came her father, Dean's, voice. Ayla smiled, her father, of all people, should know that an imagination is never really lost. Her mother has it simply tucked away for a day when it will come of great use to her.

"Well it's about time that she did." Her mother said, entering the living room where Ayla was seated, still staring out the window for an owl, or any sign of an owl.

"The world would be boring without her imagination, mom." Said Ayla's brother, Caile upon entering the room, "She keeps things interesting." Caile was a lot like their father in some ways but he got their mothers features, the same perfect nose, the same small yet somehow still perfect mouth, and the same perfect eyes. A beautiful brown flecked with gold.

Ayla, on the other hand, got her fathers slightly too large mouth, and deep blue eyes. The only resemblance she held to her mother was her nose and small build. Of course, the whole family had blonde hair though her father's had faded to a gray somewhere along the way.

Caile would be entering his fourth year at Hogwarts, he was never top of his class, there was nothing spectacular about him besides the fact that he is a chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team (one of the best they've ever had). His skills in Quidditch were all due to the fact that they lived on an acreage complete with a homemade Quidditch pitch out back by the stream.

Her father works as an unspeakable for the ministry, he couldn't even tell his children what he does there. Ayla stopped by to visit him one day unexpectedly and was sent straight home.

Her mother, on the other hand, runs a bookstore in the wizarding village thirty minutes away from their home, which is all well and good for Ayla as she loves to read. Ayla often helps out at the store as wizard children are not asked to attend elementary school and Ayla had nothing else to do with her spare time.

Faith turned on the TV and went straight to the news channel. It seemed that was the only thing on these days.

The news anchor was half-way through a sentence, "…claims that it's the work of "The Boy Who Lived", Harry Potter." Ayla rolled her eyes, of course Harry Potter was innocent, he fought so hard to save the lives of all those people… Why would he change his ways now? "Potter was last seen on the scene of the deaths of Aurora Breslin and Danny Derkson, two members of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement dealing with improper use of magic a week after his retirement, there has been no sign of him since. All I know for sure is, if you work in the ministry, you better hope you're never alone." Ayla's parents were silent as the anchor finished his story. Ayla knew exactly what they were thinking, they had missed the name's of those who had become victims, who had the "Boy Who Lived" killed this time?

"What if my letter never comes?" Ayla asked solemnly, breaking the silence and turning, finally, away from the window, "What if I am meant to stay here as a muggle. A squib!" Ayla cried and put her face in her hands, "It's alright if you don't love me anymore mother, and you as well father. I will never live up to my older broth-" just then Ayla heard the mail slot click shut, "It's here!" Ayla shouted, jumping from the couch and running towards the front door, leaving her father and brother chuckling and her mother shaking her head.

Ayla grabbed the two letters lying face down on the rug and soon the house was filled with her delighted scream as she turned them over. She then skipped back into the living room where her family was waiting patiently.

"Here's your letter Caile!" Ayla shouted tossing Caile's letter at him as she ran into the room. She then started to open her own letter. Her hands were shaking quite a bit as she did this, making it seem like it was taking forever and allowing her mind to come up with all sorts of things that weren't true in the least. She started by reading the outside of the letter, it was addressed to her, there was no mistake. She then flipped it over to see the Hogwarts crest stamped in wax on the back, sealing the envelope, no doubt it was from Hogwarts. The next step was to break the seal, which she did ever so carefully. Now the letter was open, she stared at it for a few seconds before pulling the actual letter out.

A smile spread across her face as she read:

_Dear Mrs. Lauring We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31. Yours sincerely, Rupert Dilay, Deputy Headmaster_

_

* * *

_

Reviews and favorites are, as always, appreciated.


	3. Chapter 2: Diagon Alley

Sorry for the 2 updates in one day, I felt as though this was long enough as it was so here it is... Chapter Two!

Once again, I don't own anything from the books of Harry Potter, though I seriously wish I did...

* * *

Sleep had never came easily for Ayla, unlike most kids, she ever liked the world which she entered in her dreams. Most nights she lay there, staring at the ceiling until her eyes were too heavy to keep open. From there, she would pray that she would fall into a deep enough sleep so that a dream wouldn't come, or that she wouldn't remember it the next day.

Unfortunately, on the day she had most looked forward to all year, the day she got to go to Diagon Alley for the first time ever, a dream, one of those dreams that makes itself hard to forget, came to her.

She was walking through an empty street. Though she had never been there, she knew that it was Diagon Alley. All the shops had been closed down, all, that is, except for one. Ayla entered the shop in her curiosity to find that it was filled with cursed items and dark magic. Ayla crept through the aisles, hoping to find something on her list of items, when suddenly a boy appeared beside her. He had short, light brown hair and a baby face. He looked to be no older than Ayla herself.

'Wh-" Ayla started but the boy gave her a disapproving look and held one finger up to his mouth. He then crouched down and peered over the shelves at two men who were standing, talking. Ayla tried to understand what they were saying but it was as if they were speaking a different language, though Ayla knew they weren't. The boy was concentrating hard, clearly he could understand what they were saying.

Suddenly, the men looked up and saw both Ayla and the boy crouched behind a shelf, listening to their conversation. Their faces looked somewhat familiar yet… They looked dead… One man's face was permanently etched in a sad, pleading look, the other's a confused and worried expression.

Ayla examined their faces for quite some time before noticing that the boy was now missing and she was all alone, in a staring contest with the two men. They then started speaking to Ayla, one pleading for his life, the other speaking in a continuous high-pitched scream.

They began to raise their wands, they were going to kill her. Before they got the chance, a man dressed in a black cloak sauntered into the store and pointed his wand straight at the screaming man. A green light exploded from the end of his wand and, for a moment, Ayla could've sworn that it took the shape of a stag. The room was soon filled with a blinding light, Ayla shut her eyes as tight as she could.

When Ayla finally opened her eyes she was lying on her bed, sunlight was streaming onto her face through the open window and her alarm clock blared, a continuous horn.

"Ayla!" Her father shouted from downstairs, "Do you want to go to Diagon Alley or not?"

At that moment Ayla was quite tempted to say no but then she remembered that, in order to go to Hogwarts, she needed her school supplies.

"Of course I do!" She shouted back, "Give me ten minutes!"

Ayla quickly dressed in her best muggle clothing, simple jeans and a tee-shirt with some muggle band who called themselves 'The Beatles' on it. Then she raced down to the kitchen where her brother and father were sitting, looking as if they had been waiting for hours.

After Ayla had devoured her breakfast they headed out to the car. Dean Lauring had managed to get himself a muggle driver's license so that he could enter muggle towns without apparating. They drove for three hours before pulling up to a mall with pay parking in London.

The Leaky Cauldren was only a ten minute walk from that point. As they walked Ayla thought of her dream. What had it meant? Who were the men? Who was the boy? Ayla had so many thoughts swimming about in her mind that she barely noticed her brother and father joking about all the muggle inventions they passed, she simply smiled when she felt it was appropriate. Before she knew it, Ayla was standing outside of what her father told her was The Leaky Cauldren, and, had her father not pointed it out to her, she wouldn't have noticed that it was there.

The Leaky Cauldren wasn't too packed today, there were three women sipping tea in the far corner and a man sitting at the bar with a mug of butter beer sitting in front of him. The bartender, an ambitious looking young man, couldn't have been over the age of twenty five, stood cleaning a glass, when the three entered he simply nodded and continued his conversation with the man sitting at the bar.

"I tell ya' Jerry, things have really gone to the dogs these days…" The man slurred, Ayla just picked up on these words as she passed.

The bartender chuckled, "Yea', soon we'll hear word of a giant invasion." He joked, "I just don't buy into anything that the Prophet tells me these days."

"Jerry, Jerry, Jerry… You're too young, of course you don't buy into it. You can still think for yourself!" The man yelled, slamming his mug on the counter, getting butter beer everywhere.

Jerry, the bartender, laughed in a good-natured way and started to clean the spill, "Say what you will about Harry Potter but I just can't believe tha…" Ayla heard him say as they walked out the back door of The Leaky Cauldren.

They were now standing in the alley behind the Pub facing a brick wall. Ayla didn't even have time to wonder whether they had taken the wrong door before her father had taken out his wand and tapped the wall with it. Suddenly, the wall began to move, revealing a crowded street vibrant with color and sounds. Ayla's head spun as she tried to look at everything at once.

There were owls, broomsticks, cauldrens, and everything else that she'd be needing for Hogwarts right in front of her. The most interesting shop of all was a big joke shop at the end of the Alley with a huge sign that said "Weasley's Wizard Wheezes".

"What do they sell there?" She said, eyes as wide as they could go as they tried to take in the explosion of color coming from the shop.

"All sorts of things! Skiving Snackboxes, Fake Wands, everything that you'd need to-" Caile started.

"To get detention?" Her father interrupted with a coy smile etched on his face. Caile laughed and tried to reassure their father that he'd never bought anything from there, "Sure. Anyways, let's go get you your school supplies. We can stop at the joke shop last."

They started at the wand shop, Ayla rather liked this part. The store was called Olivander's. Of course Mr. Olivander could not be found inside, Ayla assumed that it was some chain wand store. Anyways, she was most excited to finally hold a wand. The woman who helped scurried about the store like a rat, pulling out box by box for Ayla to test out. Some she yanked from her hand immediately, others she let hold for a while, a glow in her eyes that would fail after a short time. Ayla was quite amused at the process. Finally, the woman came out of the very back of the shop with a warn box. Ayla reached inside and pulled out the wand.

"Willow, 12", made with dragon heartstring." Said the woman excitedly, "Try that one out for size." As soon as Ayla held the wand she had felt somehow different, like it was a part of her, "Yes, I think this is the one!" Squealed the woman, "That'll be 2 Galleons please!"

After they had paid for her wand, they got the rest of her things, robes, books, cauldrens, and other odds and ends that were on her list. The last thing they did, before Weasley's, of course, was buy Ayla an owl.

She picked out a Northern Hawk Owl with bright blue eyes. The shop keeper warned her that this particular owl tended to be a bit fussy but Ayla felt like he already belonged to her somehow.

"I'll have to decide on a name for you soon…" She whispered to the owl through the cage. The owl clucked at her affectionately.

"Alright kids, let's head to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes if you still want to that is." Her father said, looking awfully tired after the long day of shopping. Caile looked as though he wanted to go try out his new broom on the Quidditch pitch back at their house.

"Of course I still want to!" Ayla shouted as she started running towards the shop, it was even more exciting then she had expected. The windows were full of displays for things like fireworks and ton-tongue toffees.

A man in his late forties greeted Ayla at the door, "Hello there, welcome to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes! My name is George, if you need anything please feel free to ask." Said the man, George, brightly yet, Ayla could tell, he was suffering. He had red hair and freckles covered his face. He wore a bright green suit that, Ayla thought, made him look like a green apple.

She thanked George and continued into the store, looking all over. There were many other kids her age and some older. Swarms of girls circled a pink table and a few small cages. Boys were on the other side looking into cages with a sign that declared something "NEW" was in the cages.

Ayla walked over and shoved her way through a group of boys her age to see what they were looking at. The smallest dragons Ayla had ever seen tumbled over each other inside the cage. A sign to the right said that they would never grow over the size of a wand.

Ayla looked throughout the store for another twenty minutes before deciding that it was time to leave. She grabbed a few ton-tongue taffees and a book titled '1001 Jinxes That Will Leave Them In Stitches (Not Literally)' A slightly younger boy that looked quite similar to George was sitting at the check out counter. He looked quite familiar to Ayla, she just couldn't put her finger on it.

On their way home, Ayla's father turned on the muggle radio, they were dribbling on about global warming, as usual, and Ayla was finally given time to think.

Suddenly her dream came to the front of her mind. She had not seen the store that she entered in her dream but she was certain it must have been there somewhere. Then again, it was only a dream… It didn't mean anything. Did it?

* * *

Again, reviews and favorites are highly appreciated.

I'm not quite sure what to write as the beginning for the next chapter... We'll see...


	4. Chapter 3: Worries and Disappointments

Well here's the third chapter =)

Not much to say yet again.

* * *

The remaining days of summer stretched on as Ayla awaited September 1st. She felt as though the days got longer and longer and that there was nothing left for her to do. She made a checklist of all she needed for school, packed and unpacked several times, and practiced wand movements (never doing any actual magic, of course). Now she lay, head dangling off the end of her bed, arms and legs sprawled across the remaining space, thinking about which house she will be sorted into.

_I suppose Ravenclaw would be second best, next to Gryffindor of course… _She contemplated while watching her ceiling fan spin round and round. _I could live with Hufflepuff. I guess if you want to be in Slytherin you will be… That's how it seems to work, right? Well, I don't want to be in Syltherin, I want to be in Gryffindor with Caile! _The fan spun round and round, making Ayla slightly dizzy but she continued to stare. _…If I were in Slytherin I would transfer to… to… Bulgaria! Or France or North America… But… I can't run away from my fate, once a Slytherin, always a Slytherin, no matter which country I'm in…_

Someone was walking up the stairs. _Gryffindor's colors are red and gold. Do you think they would be mad that my favourite color's blue? Is that a contributing factor? _The footsteps got louder as they approached Ayla's bedroom door. _Well, if it is, I'll be in Ravenclaw for sure. Ha! Take that Slytherin! _Her bedroom doorknob was turning. _I wonder what the food will be like…_

"Ayla!" came a child-like voice from the doorway. Ayla lifted her head.

"Thomas!" Thomas Joyce was the scrawny and shy kid who lived next door (Well, as close to next door as you can get in the country) to Ayla. They had been friends since the day Ayla discovered Thomas building a tree house in the weeping willow that marked the end of her home and the beginning of his.

"_What are you doing?" Asked a six-year-old Ayla._

"_Building stuff…" Answered a timid voice from the tree branches._

"_What are you building?"_

"_A fort…"_

"_Can I help?"_

"_No, you're a girl. You're not good at things like this…"_

"_How would you know? You never let me try!"_

"_I just know…"_

_Ayla became very upset at these words, folded her arms in front of her and sat cross-legged at the foot of the tree, "I hate boys." She said, just loud enough that the boy in the tree could hear her._

"_I'm not a big fan of you girls either." He said, barely audible._

"_Hmph!" Ayla pouted, "Well… Do you want to be friends?"_

"_Not really, you are a girl after all…"_

'_Hmph! Fine then!"_

"_But… If you can beat me to the pond…"_

_Ayla's eyes lit up with hope, "Alright, get down here!" She said, standing up._

_The boy swung down from the branch he was perched on and stood beside Ayla, "On three. One, Two… THREE!"_

_Ayla ran faster than she had ever ran before, the boy was always a few steps ahead of her. When the boy looked back to mock Ayla he tripped over his own feet and fell face-first. By the time the boy had composed himself, Ayla had already won the race._

"_You're pretty fast… For a girl." Said the boy, out of breath._

"_And you're… a boy." Said Ayla at a loss of what to say, "Friends?"_

"_Friends." Said the boy, shaking Ayla's hand, "I'm Thomas."_

"_I'm Ayla!" Said Ayla cheerfully._

_From that moment on, the two were inseperable._

"Did you get your letter?" Thomas asked, waving his around.

"Yeah, we went shopping a week ago, now I have NOTHING to do!" She shouted flopping over, burying her face in her pillow. "Mmmmhph?" Ayla's words came out garbled.

"What?" Thomas cocked his head to one side, studying Ayla.

Instead of lifting her head she simply shouted a little louder, "MMMMHPH?"

"Ayla, I have no idea what you're saying!"

Finally, she lifted her head, looked at Thomas and said, very clearly (A little too cleary), "I said… Where have you been this last week?"

"Oh… Uhm… I was at home?" He replied but Ayla could tell that's not where he was at all. She decided not to question it, shrugged, and plopped down into the pillow again, "Is this your owl?" He said, clearly trying to change the subject.

Ayla lifted her head, "No, Thomas. I'm just holding it for a friend, of course it's my owl!" She said with obvious annoyance at her friend.

"Don't be like that… What's it's name?"

"He doesn't have one."

"Well you should give him one."

"I was planning on it, thanks." Ayla said quietly, "What do you suggest?" "Oh… I don't know… I think Hermes would suit him…" Of course Thomas would think that Hermes, the god of travel and messengers, would suit him.

"That's very appropriate…" If there was one Ayla didn't like about Thomas it was his love of order. Everything had it's place, "I'll take it into consideration."

"Okay… Well, we're on our way to Diagon Alley. I was going to invite you but, seeing as you've already gone… I'll see you later Ayla." He said cheerfully as he walked out of the room.

Ayla sighed and turned her head to stare at the wall. _Thomas will be in Ravenclaw… I'd bet on that… Maybe, MAYBE Hufflepuff… _She sighed again and flipped over to face the other wall.

There was a knock at her door.

"Come on in…" Ayla said just loud enough so that the person at the door, whoever it was, would hear.

"Hey Ay!" Came her brother's cheerful voice though there was a hint of sadness to it, "I need to talk to you real quick."

Ayla sat up, "What's up?"

"Mom and dad are kinda flipping out downstairs. You remember Heath Findley?" He asked casually.

"Sure, he's the one that always sends us a case of chocolate frogs each for Christmas."

"Ayla, he's dead." Straight to the point, as always. Caile was never one to linger on anything.

"What?"

"He and Adrian Apollo were found dead in Ela Vale last week. Apparently the Prophet just got news of this now…"

"Did they find the murderer?"

"No… But all fingers are pointing to Harry Potter."

"It wasn't him…"

"How do you know that for sure Ayla?" Ayla opened her mouth to speak but was cut off, "I'm not saying it is him, I'm not saying it isn't. All I'm saying is… Listen, this isn't what I came here to talk to you about…" Ayla tried to talk but was cut off again, "Ayla, mom and dad don't want us to go to Hogwarts."

Straight to the point, as always.

* * *

Sorry that not much happened in this chapter, it was basically so that you all could get to know Ayla better and so that I could introduce Thomas.

Some more information:

Just to clarify a few things, Harry Potter has retired from the ministry so he is now an ex-auror, Ayla's father is NOT Dean Thomas, I didn't even realize that there was a connection there until now, Ayla's father is Dean Lauring, a completely different person.

Reviews and favorites are always appreciated!


End file.
